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New Westminster remediation project in running for Brownie Award

Westminster Pier Park may not be finished but it's already a potential award winner.

Westminster Pier Park may not be finished but it's already a potential award winner.

The Canadian Urban Institute has announced that the City of New Westminster's Westminster Pier Park construction project is a finalist for the 2011 CUI Brownie Awards. The Brownie Awards program recognizes leadership and innovation in a number of categories, including sustainable remediation technologies and excellence in project development at the neighbourhood scale.

The Westminster Pier Park construction project has been selected as a finalist in the category of Sustainable Remediation Technologies and Technological Innovation, along with projects in Belleville, London and Cambridge, Ontario.

"It is a truism to say that the jury's decisions get harder every year, but this is indeed the case. The range and scale of projects continues to grow, and it is clear that brownfield redevelopment expertise has expanded far beyond simply gaining the necessary planning and environmental approvals," Glenn Miller, vice president, education and research for the Canadian Urban Institute, said in a media release announcing the award finalists. "The emphasis today is on the quality of place and the contribution a project or program can make to the community at large."

The City of New Westminster purchased the former industrial property on the city's waterfront for $8 million in 2009 and is redeveloping the riverfront site into a $25.1 million park. The city has received federal and provincial governments contributions for two-thirds ($16.6 million) of the project funding through the Build Canada Fund.

New Westminster also received a $105,500 brownfield grant from the province to help remediate the Westminster Pier Park site.

"We're very proud of the Westminster Pier Park project and of the fact that ours is the only project outside of Ontario to be selected as a finalist in this category," said Mayor Wayne Wright in a press release. "We look forward to opening the park to the public soon, making a new connection to our historic waterfront and providing a welcome amenity for our citizens to enjoy for years to come."

The Canadian Urban Institute website states that the nonprofit organization is an innovator and catalyst engaged in research, networking, leadership development, planning and policy solutions to improve the quality of life in urban regions in Canada and around the world. The Brownie awards, presented at the institute's annual brownfields conference, recognize leadership, innovation and environmental sustainability in brownfields redevelopment across Canada.

Blair Fryer, the city's communications manager, said the City of New Westminster is continuing to compile information about the remediation work that's been done on the site and will be forwarding it to the province for review at the end of September. The city has yet to decide whether a city official will be attending the Brownie Awards event that's being held in Toronto on Tuesday, Oct. 4.